| Show Me Some Love!
February 05, 2006 - Arty Hart
Introduction: Well today is the big today – Super Bowl Sunday. Super Bowl XL. That's Super Bowl Forty, for all of you who don't get Roman Numerals. For most men across America it is Super Bowl Extra Large!!!
Tonight, all across America people will gather and watch the game, screaming at the players, screaming at the refs, screaming at the coaches, and hushing so they can hear the commercials.
In professional sports there is a saying, “Show me some love”, which usually means “Pay me some big money!” If money is any indication then the NFL and the networks really love the sponsors, because Super Bowl Commercials cost big money.
When Jesus spent his last night with His disciples before the crucifixion He told them to show Him some love, by showing each other love. And He wasn't talking about money. He was talking about the foundation of the Church.
During the night of the Last Supper Jesus would spend His last moments with His disciples before His crucifixion. Jesus has just spent three years with these men. He had taught them many things. They had observed Him teaching others. They had seen the miracles. They had observed His life – His priorities. Now was the end. These last words Jesus spoke would be the last they would hear from Him before His words from the cross, and after the resurrection.
These words were not only important, as all last words are, they were foundational. They were definitive. They communicated the essence of His life and ministry. They were the most important words they could follow. They would define the Church. They would determine whether this new faith would succeed in going to all the world – or pass away with the death of the last eye witness.
During this evening Jesus celebrated Passover with the disciples. He washed their feet. He spoke of His betrayal, and of His death. He taught them. He comforted and encouraged them. And He gave them a command…
JN 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
“New command reminds me of a Super Bowl story. In Super Bowl VI Duane Thomas was asked why he wasn't more excited about playing in the “ultimate game”. His response, “If it's the ultimate game why do they play it again next year?” I know – for the commercials!
Jesus' “new command” was not new at all. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” He was quoting Moses (quoting God). What was new was that this kind of love had never been modeled for them before. Jesus came to earth to demonstrate God's love, and to show us how it is done.
Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” He said it again a little later in the evening. Jesus loved his disciples. He hung out with them and spent time with them, even when they were selfish (“…let us sit at your right hand…”), clueless (“How long will I be with you?!”), sinful (Lord depart from me. I am a sinful man.”). Jesus loved them, taught them, was patient with them, fed them, prayed for them, and died for them.
What is often missing in CH**CH? It is not the letters U and R. It is LOVE.
Love is the defining factor of life in the Church. It is the barometer measuring the health of the local church (not money, numbers, or buildings). It is the evidence that we belong to Him, and it is the greatest aspect of our testimony, giving credibility to our claim that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Later in this evening Jesus would pray for Himself, as the cross neared. But before that, while still in the upper room, as the disciples eavesdropped, He would pray for them… beginning in JOHN 13:7
7 “Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.”
“Now they know” – because Jesus had spent three years showing them. Now He is praying for them…
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
We have just spent a wonderful weekend with Jack Frost. The emphasis of Jack's message is that God loves you with the love of a Father. Jesus said that God loves you with the same love with which He loves His Son!
You are not on probation with Him. He is not weighing whether or not He will love you today because of what you did yesterday, or what He knows you may do tomorrow. God loves you just the way you are, and he is pouring His love out on you so that you can live the life that He created you for.
But what do we do with that love? Do we simply experience it, savor it, celebrate it, and keep it to ourselves? Or do we share it with others in ways that will cause people to notice, and compel others to share that love as well.
When I was in college I used to love the art of apologetics. Apologetics is the intellectual defense of the Christian faith. It is giving reasons, from Scripture, from science, from history, and from logic, that the claims of the Scriptures are true. I used to love to argue with atheists about the evidence that exists to support the claims of the Christian faith. I really used to just like to argue.
There is a place for apologetics. I appreciate the fact that faith is not contrary to reason. I love the fact that there is great empirical evidence to support the claims of Scripture. Peter wrote that we should always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15 ).
But Jesus was very clear that nothing gives our message credibility like our living it. And the way we live it is to love one another.
So how do we do that? We cannot love one another without being with one another. A “love” that loves from afar but never gets involved in other people's lives is no love at all. It is kind of like me saying, “I love the sea.” But I've never been a sailor, or a ship's captain like Jack Frost. I appreciate the sea. I love to visit the ocean, and admire its beauty. But I don't know enough about the sea to really say I love it.
So what does all of this mean to us? Simply this… If we don't love one another we aren't being like Jesus. No one will listen to what we have to say. And even our salvation may be in question (1 John 4:8).
Here is my point (yes I have one):
I don't want to do anything else as a church if it is not loving God and loving others. I want us to devote ourselves completely to loving God, and receiving His love for us. And I want to continually challenge each other to love one another in practical, tangible, observable ways.
Church is not about buildings – though I am thankful for the one we have. Church is not about programs – thought I appreciate every one we have that reflects or encourages our love for God and others. Church is not about denomination – though I love the Vineyard movement.
Church is about accepting the fact that God loves you no matter how unlovable you may think you are. It is about receiving that love, and loving God back. It is about loving and serving each other in every way we can. And it is about loving people who don't know or understand any of this, and maybe don't even care.
That is what I want to do. That is what I want our leaders to do. That is what I want our church to do. That is really all I want to do. I don't want to build anything that is just going to burn up when Jesus returns. But whatever we do in love will last forever.
What can we do practically? I know, love each other, encourage each other, pray for each other, forgive one another… There are dozens of “one another” statements in the New Testament. They are a good place start. Look them up and start doing them.
But let me be a little more practical. Start hanging out with one another. Get in a small group – not to be a part of a program, but to be a part of someone else's life. If you don't like the ones we have, or can't make it, start one. Start a Bible study. I will help you. Start a fellowship group – meet around fishing if you want, or quilting – but encourage one another in your faith. Make some new friends, and start getting together for coffee, or dinner.
Look for ways to be with one another, and love one another, and then invite someone else to be a part. Let me now what you are doing, not so I can control it, but so that I can encourage you, or help you.
Conclusion: I read a story about a teenage big brother who was tired of reading bedtime stories to his little sister. He decided to record several of her favorite stories on tape. He told her, "now you can hear your stories anytime you want. Isn't that great?" She looked at the machine for a moment and then replied, "No. It hasn't got a lap."
Jesus came and brought us love with flesh and bones on it – love with a lap if you will. The world still needs love with a lap, love with flesh and bones, love with ears, and hands and feet. Let's show each other that kind of love, and let's show the world that kind of love. PRAY
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